1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to amusement devices and especially to a magnetic spinning device and track system.
In particular, the track system of this device magnetically interacts with the spinning device to impart a forward motion for propelling the device along a selected glide path.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art action toys which had utilized track guidance systems generally included miniature vehicles such as racing cars or trains which traversed a predetermined path of travel. The vehicles were usually provided with a self-contained motor for furnishing the propelling force and frequently were subject to mechanical malfunctioning. Furthermore, those toy apparatus did not rely upon a magnetic field for accelerating the vehicle and influencing the path of travel. A further shortcoming of those prior art toy devices was that the mechanical drive elements increased the cost of manufacture.
The present invention in contrast utilizes the kinetic energy of a spinning top which is transformed to translatory motion. A characteristic of this dynamic toy apparatus is that it utilizes a magnetic field in effecting the energy conversion. It should thus be apparent that undesirable frictional losses in the prior art mechanical drive systems are substantially eliminated in the instant invention.
Although various types of magnetized toy tops were illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 960,715, 1,005,853, 1,198,578, 3,330,067, 3,466,796, and 4,031,660, those devices did not integrate a track accelerator and guidance system for supporting a vertically oriented spinning top along one end of its axle, nor did they provide for "free flight".
Another improvement over those previous top devices concerns the utilization in the present invention of a plurality of track sections in a cooperative manner to linearly accelerate the top for translation along a "free flight" path.
In view of the foregoing, it should be apparent that the present invention overcomes many of the shortcomings of the prior art devices and provides an improved dynamic toy apparatus which eliminates many of the problems in the prior art.